Are Christians required to keep the Old Testament Law?
by David Guzik
{audio transcript}
...
maybe we can talk about some of the things that I can share a little bit of my experience or my knowledge on.
If you haven't been introduced or if we haven't been introduced before: Some people know me from an online Bible commentary that I have. We call it the Enduring Word Bible commentary.
{audio transcript}
...
maybe we can talk about some of the things that I can share a little bit of my experience or my knowledge on.
If you haven't been introduced or if we haven't been introduced before: Some people know me from an online Bible commentary that I have. We call it the Enduring Word Bible commentary.
It's available at the enduringword.com, some people find it helpful, and we have it translated into many languages. And a significant part of our work is continuing that translation work. On these Thursday afternoons {on the YouTube} we invite you to come and offer your questions and I'll respond to them the best I can.
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{Here’s} ... a simple question:
Are Christians required to keep the Old Testament Law?
And here's what we're starting from Maria{'s question}. Now, it's a little bit of a longer question for Maria, so stick with me as I read my way through her question and where she quotes a few Bible passages. I'm going to put them up on the screen for you here. So this is the question from Maria.
She says:
Q.
Hello, I've been listening to and reading the verse by verse lessons from your website. I have a question. When the New Testament says that we do not have to do the law any longer, does that apply to the Commandments? Here is where I get tripped up. Pastor David makes perfect sense in his explanation of the keeping of the Law as it relates to the Ten Commandments.
But in John 14:15, Jesus says,"if you love me, keep my Commandments". This is where I get confused. I love Jesus and there is no commandment I want to break except the Sabbath, sometimes when I need to hire someone like a plumber. I've had Christians call me legalistic because of this, but I don't want to disobey God no matter what. And I even did a three day fast over this to try to understand it better.
Romans, ch. 3, verse 31 says:
{Here’s} ... a simple question:
Are Christians required to keep the Old Testament Law?
And here's what we're starting from Maria{'s question}. Now, it's a little bit of a longer question for Maria, so stick with me as I read my way through her question and where she quotes a few Bible passages. I'm going to put them up on the screen for you here. So this is the question from Maria.
She says:
Q.
Hello, I've been listening to and reading the verse by verse lessons from your website. I have a question. When the New Testament says that we do not have to do the law any longer, does that apply to the Commandments? Here is where I get tripped up. Pastor David makes perfect sense in his explanation of the keeping of the Law as it relates to the Ten Commandments.
But in John 14:15, Jesus says,
Romans, ch. 3, verse 31 says:
"do we then make void the Law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law."
And I thought that Paul was trying to say we have to obey the law here as well.
{So these two scriptures, she's referring to John 14:15, where Jesus said," if you love me, keep my commandments". And then Romans 3:31, which I just read to you.}
So these two Scriptures really got me mixed up in trying to understand the matter. If Pastor David could specifically address these two Scriptures in relationship to the keeping of the commandments, it would really help me to understand this in my heart.
{So these two scriptures, she's referring to John 14:15, where Jesus said," if you love me, keep my commandments". And then Romans 3:31, which I just read to you.}
So these two Scriptures really got me mixed up in trying to understand the matter. If Pastor David could specifically address these two Scriptures in relationship to the keeping of the commandments, it would really help me to understand this in my heart.
A.
All right.
Well, Maria, this is an excellent question, and I think it's very helpful for Christians to understand this, what the Bible says about this in its entirety. Let's begin with just saying this that the Ten Commandments, or the Mosaic Law in general that was never given with the thought that anyone might earn heaven by obeying them all perfectly or even adequately. The covenant that God made with Israel was much bigger than just the Law, just bigger than the commandments that they had to keep, though in some ways the Law was its first and perhaps most dramatic and day to day aspect. But another aspect of the covenant was sacrifice, which was given because both God and Israel knew that it was impossible for them to keep this Law perfectly, and they had to depend on the sacrifice of an innocent victim as a substitute for the guilty lawbreaker. Now, in this sense, the Ten Commandments were like a mirror that showed Israel their need for sacrifice.
You see, the Old Testament Law can also be summarized as Jesus did in Matthew, ch. 22. Let me read this passage to you. Matthew 22, verses 35 - 40 where Jesus says then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, saying:
All right.
Well, Maria, this is an excellent question, and I think it's very helpful for Christians to understand this, what the Bible says about this in its entirety. Let's begin with just saying this that the Ten Commandments, or the Mosaic Law in general that was never given with the thought that anyone might earn heaven by obeying them all perfectly or even adequately. The covenant that God made with Israel was much bigger than just the Law, just bigger than the commandments that they had to keep, though in some ways the Law was its first and perhaps most dramatic and day to day aspect. But another aspect of the covenant was sacrifice, which was given because both God and Israel knew that it was impossible for them to keep this Law perfectly, and they had to depend on the sacrifice of an innocent victim as a substitute for the guilty lawbreaker. Now, in this sense, the Ten Commandments were like a mirror that showed Israel their need for sacrifice.
You see, the Old Testament Law can also be summarized as Jesus did in Matthew, ch. 22. Let me read this passage to you. Matthew 22, verses 35 - 40 where Jesus says then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, saying:
"Teacher, which is the great commandment of the Law?" Jesus said to him: "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Now, you could say that Jesus simplified the Law. He simplified the Law that simplified the Ten Commandments. But this simplification doesn't eliminate the Ten Commandments. It fulfills them, showing us the heart and the desire of God for his people.
The problem is that we haven't kept the two Commandments, much less the Ten. Is there anybody watching this right now or listening to it later? Who can say that they have actually loved the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and all their mind, and they've done it perfectly since day one? Or is there anyone who can say that they have perfectly loved their neighbor as themselves? Know what Jesus did was he simplified the Law, but he didn't make it any easier to keep. More importantly, we know that Jesus himself was the only one to ever keep the Law of Moses perfectly. Jesus kept it perfectly in the ten, in the two, and in the whole Law of Moses. Only Jesus was the only one who kept it perfectly. Jesus never needed to sacrifice for his own sin. Therefore, he could be the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And wonderfully, his obedience is credited to those who put their love and trust in Him.
Maria, I want you to think of this very important passage. Romans, ch. 8, vv 2 and 3. Let me read that to you:
The problem is that we haven't kept the two Commandments, much less the Ten. Is there anybody watching this right now or listening to it later? Who can say that they have actually loved the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and all their mind, and they've done it perfectly since day one? Or is there anyone who can say that they have perfectly loved their neighbor as themselves? Know what Jesus did was he simplified the Law, but he didn't make it any easier to keep. More importantly, we know that Jesus himself was the only one to ever keep the Law of Moses perfectly. Jesus kept it perfectly in the ten, in the two, and in the whole Law of Moses. Only Jesus was the only one who kept it perfectly. Jesus never needed to sacrifice for his own sin. Therefore, he could be the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And wonderfully, his obedience is credited to those who put their love and trust in Him.
Maria, I want you to think of this very important passage. Romans, ch. 8, vv 2 and 3. Let me read that to you:
"For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, we condemn the sin in the flesh. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
Maria, did you see those words? This is amazing.
"for I, through the Law, died to the Law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me now. The life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his son for me."
Did you see that there? It's very important, very powerful. There is a sense in which we died to the Law, as Paul explained. Let me read those words to you again. Galatians, chapter 2, verse 19. "For I through the Law died to the Law that I might live to God"
And this also explains that the Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ before God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ was fully evident. We were kept under guard by the Law, both in the sense of being bound by the Law, but also being held in protective custody. The Law, through its revelation of God's character and its exposure of our sin, prepared us to come to Jesus. But after we've come to Jesus, we no longer have to live under our tutor or schoolmaster, though we remember the behavior that the Law taught us. (Galatians 3:23-27)
You see, from the perspective of the Bible, the entire Bible, we can say that the Law of God has three great purposes and uses in the life of the believer today.
And this also explains that the Law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ before God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ was fully evident. We were kept under guard by the Law, both in the sense of being bound by the Law, but also being held in protective custody. The Law, through its revelation of God's character and its exposure of our sin, prepared us to come to Jesus. But after we've come to Jesus, we no longer have to live under our tutor or schoolmaster, though we remember the behavior that the Law taught us. (Galatians 3:23-27)
You see, from the perspective of the Bible, the entire Bible, we can say that the Law of God has three great purposes and uses in the life of the believer today.
• Number one, it is a guardrail keeping humanity on a moral path.
• Number two, it is mirror, showing us our moral failure and our need for a Savior.
• Number three, the Law is a guide showing us the heart and the desire of God for his people.
• Number two, it is mirror, showing us our moral failure and our need for a Savior.
• Number three, the Law is a guide showing us the heart and the desire of God for his people.
Now, considering all of this, we can say some things about the relationship that the believer has to the Old Testament Law today. For the believer, the obedience of Jesus Christ is credited to them, and Jesus fulfilled the Law on their behalf, just as we previously read in Romans chapter eight. And the ceremonial and the sacrificial aspects of the Law are likewise fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and we are specifically told that we are not under such Law.
Maria and everybody else, let me show you this passage from Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17. Paul says:
Maria and everybody else, let me show you this passage from Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17. Paul says:
"so let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a Festival, or a New Moon or Sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ."
That's really a remarkable statement. We live in freedom in regards to the Law, especially in regard to its ceremonial aspects, which are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So the Law was a unified whole. If Christians are under the Law, {Law in the same sense that Israel was}, then we are also under the Law of Sacrifice. We're under the dietary laws, we're under the feast laws, we're under the ceremonial laws and such. So in Christ, the Christian is no longer under the Law.
But, and this is where everybody needs to listen to me carefully, but the Christian is still concerned with obedience because Jesus Christ, the perfectly obedient one, lives within them. Friends, I think this is so important. Though we are no longer under the Law as Israel was, the Old Testament Law remains a valid expression of God's heart and mind, not in its ceremonial aspects, but its basic moral aspects. So an example of a moral aspect is:"you shall not murder." That's just as valid for the Christian today as it was for the Jewish person under the Old Testament Law. The command that "we should be truthful to one another," just as valid for the Christian today, and plainly said to be a matter of New Testament obedience. It's the moral aspect of the Law. The ceremonial aspects of the Law, those are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and we are free to either keep them or to not keep them as would please us. As Paul stated in Colossian, Ch. 2, "let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding the Festival or the New Moon or the Sabbath."
Maria, if you want to keep the Sabbath, you have full liberty in Jesus Christ to do so. Just don't think it makes you any more right with God than somebody who doesn't keep the Sabbath, a believer who does not keep the Sabbath.* If you want to keep a kosher diet, you have full liberty in Jesus Christ to do it, go right ahead. But it doesn't make you any more right with God than a Christian, than a believer who does not keep kosher.
Now, let me address what you noted in John 14, verse 15 when Jesus said this"if you love me, keep my commandments."
I want to give some clarity to what Jesus said there. In the largest sense, this does include the Law of Moses as a guardrail, because the Law of Moses is the Law of God and Jesus is God. We could say that the Law of Moses is the commandment of Jesus. That's true. But at the moment Jesus said those words,"if you love me, keep my commandments." I don't think he had in mind the Ten Commandments or the Law of Moses as a whole. He had in mind what he had just said to his disciples. You see, Jesus had just demonstrated his remarkable love to the disciples by washing their feet. That was a remarkable thing for Jesus to do. And he told them that their loving response should be to keep his commandments. So he commanded them to wash one another's feet after the example he displayed. That's in John chapter 13, verses 14 and 15. He commanded them to love one another after the pattern of his love to them. That's in John chapter 13, verse 34. And he commanded them to put their faith in the God and Father and in Jesus himself. That's in John 14, verse 1.
So keeping the commandments of Jesus, it does speak to our personal morality. Yet when Jesus said those words in John 14:15,"if you love me, keep my commandments" , I think it was on the commandments that he just gave that they should love one another, have faith in him and God the Father as demonstrations of obedience to his commandments.
And friends, that is a fair measure of our love for Jesus. It's easy to think of loving Jesus as a merely sentimental or emotional thing. Now, it's wonderful when our love for Jesus has emotional and passion behind it, that's great. But it must always be connected to keeping his commandments, especially his commandments to love one another and to trust God. Or it isn't love at all. Though the emphasis is on love, these words of Jesus also have a general application to our Christian obedience. For the believer, disobedience is not merely a failure of performance or failure of strength. In some sense, it's also a failure of love. Those who love God most will obey him most joyfully and naturally. If anyone says, I really love Jesus, I just don't want him to tell me how to live my life. That's a terrible misunderstanding of both Jesus and our love to him. So, friends, we are not under the Law as Israel was, but we are under obligation to obey God in joyful consistency with who he has made us in or, I should say, as new creations in Jesus Christ.
Let me say one more thing, Maria, {before I get to the questions that have come in.} We must be very careful that we never equate obedience with legalism. For a Christian to say we should obey what God tells us to do in this book, I mean, with the right understanding of the place of the Law and all of that. But make no mistake about it, the Bible gives the believer in Jesus Christ, the Christian, the one who's under the new covenant of God, the Bible tells that person how to live and to say, 'I want to obey that' and to say 'we, as Christians should obey it'.
That's not legalism. That is simple obedience to Jesus Christ. Be careful. Obedience is not legalism. Now, there are people who use legal legalism and calls to obedience as a cloak for it, but they're not the same thing.
Hope that's helpful for you, Maria.
...
But, and this is where everybody needs to listen to me carefully, but the Christian is still concerned with obedience because Jesus Christ, the perfectly obedient one, lives within them. Friends, I think this is so important. Though we are no longer under the Law as Israel was, the Old Testament Law remains a valid expression of God's heart and mind, not in its ceremonial aspects, but its basic moral aspects. So an example of a moral aspect is:
Maria, if you want to keep the Sabbath, you have full liberty in Jesus Christ to do so. Just don't think it makes you any more right with God than somebody who doesn't keep the Sabbath, a believer who does not keep the Sabbath.* If you want to keep a kosher diet, you have full liberty in Jesus Christ to do it, go right ahead. But it doesn't make you any more right with God than a Christian, than a believer who does not keep kosher.
* Paul says in Eph 2:15:
He has abolished the Law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace and might reconcile both groups to God in one body.”
Now, let me address what you noted in John 14, verse 15 when Jesus said this
I want to give some clarity to what Jesus said there. In the largest sense, this does include the Law of Moses as a guardrail, because the Law of Moses is the Law of God and Jesus is God. We could say that the Law of Moses is the commandment of Jesus. That's true. But at the moment Jesus said those words,
So keeping the commandments of Jesus, it does speak to our personal morality. Yet when Jesus said those words in John 14:15,
And friends, that is a fair measure of our love for Jesus. It's easy to think of loving Jesus as a merely sentimental or emotional thing. Now, it's wonderful when our love for Jesus has emotional and passion behind it, that's great. But it must always be connected to keeping his commandments, especially his commandments to love one another and to trust God. Or it isn't love at all. Though the emphasis is on love, these words of Jesus also have a general application to our Christian obedience. For the believer, disobedience is not merely a failure of performance or failure of strength. In some sense, it's also a failure of love. Those who love God most will obey him most joyfully and naturally. If anyone says, I really love Jesus, I just don't want him to tell me how to live my life. That's a terrible misunderstanding of both Jesus and our love to him. So, friends, we are not under the Law as Israel was, but we are under obligation to obey God in joyful consistency with who he has made us in or, I should say, as new creations in Jesus Christ.
Let me say one more thing, Maria, {before I get to the questions that have come in.} We must be very careful that we never equate obedience with legalism. For a Christian to say we should obey what God tells us to do in this book, I mean, with the right understanding of the place of the Law and all of that. But make no mistake about it, the Bible gives the believer in Jesus Christ, the Christian, the one who's under the new covenant of God, the Bible tells that person how to live and to say, 'I want to obey that' and to say 'we, as Christians should obey it'.
That's not legalism. That is simple obedience to Jesus Christ. Be careful. Obedience is not legalism. Now, there are people who use legal legalism and calls to obedience as a cloak for it, but they're not the same thing.
Hope that's helpful for you, Maria.
...
· The "End" of the Law
· Two Eras
· The Melchizedek Order & Priesthood
· Reality - walking in the Truth
HU ☆
